316: Chapter 316 The Net Closes!

Meanwhile, the movements of the other two suspects were also simultaneously monitored by Shin-chan. Their timing for sending encrypted data, the proxy links used, and the addresses of the receiving ends were all different; they did not belong to the same system.

One suspect's superior was in Yangcheng, while the other's source of instructions was in the Transcaucasia region.

Zhao Yang looked at the massive amount of hidden IP information on the screen, his eyes filled with emotion.

Based on the superior IP addresses, Shin-chan silently infiltrated the servers and hosts corresponding to these addresses, covertly extracting email correspondence, file lists, and communication copies with subordinates. All operations performed a deep stealth bypass at the target's authentication layer; the compromised nodes showed no abnormal traffic alerts.

Impressive.

Watching Shin-chan's operations, Zhao Yang's eyes were full of wonder. No matter how many times he saw Shin-chan's infiltration methods, Zhao Yang found it hard to believe.

It was truly too powerful, not at all like something that could be produced in this era. No such level of infiltration technology currently existed on Earth.

Soon, Shin-chan quietly and easily copied all the files from those network encryption nodes and then transferred them to a mobile hard drive.

These things were not just evidence; through them, it should be enough to capture all those spies—at least all the spies on this specific link!

There was too much stuff; Zhao Yang lost interest after just a glance. Professional matters should be left to the professionals. He brought the hard drive up from the basement and walked to the villa entrance, where Wang Hai was already waiting in the car parked by the roadside. Zhao Yang handed the hard drive to him.

"Hand this to Officer Liu personally; do not pass it through anyone else."

Wang Hai took the hard drive and nodded. He didn't ask what was inside, and Zhao Yang didn't say. Having followed Zhao Yang for so long, Wang Hai knew what to ask and what not to ask.

Zhao Yang returned to the basement and sent a message to Officer Liu: "I've given you everything from the nodes; the operation to pull in the net can begin."

Officer Liu received the hard drive from Wang Hai and quickly began reviewing it with technicians from the Discipline Inspection Department in the small meeting room of the Security Department. As soon as the hard drive was plugged into the computer and the folder was opened, several technicians crowded in front of the screen.

A young technician first scanned several filenames, and then his expression changed. He clicked on one of the folders, which contained backups of email correspondence from a certain overseas server. The sending and receiving time of every email, the version of the encryption protocol used by the sender, and the corresponding dark web node port numbers had all been organized.

He clicked on another folder, which contained a topological diagram of relationships between people marked with different colors. From the three traitors to their respective superiors, and then to the superiors' superiors, every node's alias, inferred real identity, and bank account transaction summaries were neatly listed in tables on the side, categorized by type.

"Director Liu, this data... it's just too detailed."

The young technician turned to look at Officer Liu, his hand still gripping the mouse. His posture and gaze suggested he couldn't quite believe the things on the screen were real.

"Internal emails from those overseas servers—we don't have a judicial cooperation agreement, so we couldn't get them through normal channels. Decrypting encryption protocols usually requires specialized cryptographic machines to run for days. This hard drive has everything decrypted."

"How exactly did Dr. Zhao do this? Our Technical Section has been doing counter-intelligence for so many years, and we've never seen this level of network penetration capability."

Another slightly older technician nearby also sighed in admiration. He had spent a significant amount of time in the military's electronic information warfare department and had seen all sorts of data extraction methods, but this was the first time he had encountered someone bringing back the entire internal communications of a multinational spy network.

"Professor Zhao is a genius, not someone we mortals can fathom!"

Officer Liu smiled and spoke to the surrounding technicians.

"It's enough to confirm these items are valid. There's no need to investigate the technical methods. Those working, get to it; use this to lock down specific addresses."

After speaking, he pulled over his notebook while simultaneously having the technicians begin matching the data to real-world offline addresses.

The technicians said no more. Using the detailed data, they quickly found the IP addresses of various superior nodes and matched them one by one to specific cities and streets, even pinpointing exact house numbers.

Officer Liu took these addresses and began joint deployment with Discipline Inspection and National Security Departments across various regions. From a trading company in an office building in Yangcheng to the administrator of a network relay station in the Transcaucasia region, and then to the lessee of a server room in Europe—a massive dragnet spanning multiple countries and regions quietly spread out over a few days.

The operation code name was set as "Nightingale."

The arrest operation was scheduled for the same time. Investigators from the Discipline Inspection and National Security Departments launched actions in multiple cities simultaneously. In that office building in Yangcheng, when several plainclothes officers stepped out of the elevator, only a property janitor was mopping the floor in the hallway. The leading investigator signaled behind him after verifying the room number. In less than a minute or two, the people inside were subdued before they even had time to close the encrypted communication interface on their computers.

Over at the Aerospace Engine R&D Center.

Researcher Liu was pondering how to join Zhao Yang's core research group. For the past few days, he had been observing the work rhythm of Zhao Yang's team, calculating what kind of suitable reason he could find to approach them.

If he could get his hands on the test data for the Four-Thrust-Chamber Configuration, his superiors would surely be satisfied. He walked slowly down the hallway holding a water cup, seeing several young researchers gathered around a blueprint through the glass of the meeting room. Just as he was about to turn in that direction, several men in dark jackets blocked his path.

The leader flashed his identification; his tone was flat and his voice wasn't loud, but every word hit with heavy weight.

"Liu Wenbin, come with us."

"What is it? I still have some data running over there..."

"No need to run it anymore."

The investigators didn't waste words with him. One person on each side stepped forward and turned slightly, naturally sandwiching him in the middle. The water cup in Researcher Liu's hand was taken and placed on the nearby windowsill. He didn't struggle from beginning to end, his entire face turning bloodless in an instant.

His mind went completely blank; he didn't even know what to think.

As he was led out of the hallway, researchers at several nearby workstations stood up. Someone's pen fell on the desk and rolled a couple of times, but no one picked it up. The entire floor was as quiet as if all the air had been sucked out.

Almost at the same time, the other two traitors were also apprehended at their respective locations. One was taken away from beside a test bench, still holding a test run record sheet that was only half-filled; the other had just returned from the cafeteria and was intercepted at the stairwell, pulled away by the arms before he even had a chance to ask a question.

Three people, arrested at once!